Whitbread
Senior Manager Food Technology
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Senior Manager Food Technology
Location: Dunstable LU5
Hybrid working: 3 days a week in the office
About the Role
As Whitbread’s Senior Manager - Food Technology, you will shape and deliver the end-to-end food technical strategy across Whitbread and Premier Inn—setting the standards for food safety, integrity, legality, and quality. You’ll oversee all technical service provision through NSF and other partners, ensuring robust due diligence, consistent compliance, and continuous improvement in efficiency and effectiveness.
Bringing a practical, evidence-led, and commercially balanced mindset, you will manage food-related risks, strengthen senior-level supplier relationships, and build joint strategies that enhance brand performance while protecting guest trust. You’ll represent Whitbread externally, using industry insight and networks to influence the wider agenda and anticipate regulatory or market change.
As the organisation’s voice of food technical expertise, you will lead governance frameworks, KPIs and reporting, drive cross-functional collaboration, and build high-performing teams. You will also own the annual food risk review, ensuring risk frameworks remain current and that strong mitigation plans are in place across the supply base.
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What You'll Do
- Risk & Compliance Leadership — Lead the annual Food Risk Review, update critical risk tools, and ensure operational controls reflect internal and external changes.
- Governance & Crisis Management — Own the governance framework and technical policy reviews, and lead crisis management for food safety, integrity, and legality incidents.
- Service Provider & Audit Oversight — Manage NSF and other service partners, ensuring effective audit/testing plans, continuous improvement, and full compliance with agreed scopes.
- Supply Base Quality & Performance — Drive supplier governance, quality, and consistency programs, raw material strategy, and delivery of brand and ESG goals across the supply base.
- Quality Culture & External Representation — Build a strong internal quality culture, lead regulatory horizon scanning and action planning, and represent Whitbread externally to shape industry standards.
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Why You'll Love It Here
- Bonus potential 20%
- Matched Contributory Pension up to 10%
- Up to 60% off Premier Inn and Hub stays
What You'll Need
- A degree (or equivalent experience) in Food Science, Food Technology, Food Safety, or a related discipline.
- Strong working knowledge of food safety legislation, industry standards, and regulatory frameworks.
- Significant experience in a senior technical or technologist role within food manufacturing, hospitality, or retail sectors.
- Experience applying technical judgement in complex or fast-paced operational settings.
- Experience of ensuring effective food governance and reporting (Food Safety, Integrity, Legality, and Quality) and contributing to technical policies and review including allergens, quality, and nutrition.
- Experience of leading Crisis Management of food safety, integrity, legality-related incidents as a Food Technology SME.
- Proven track record of Supply Base Governance (Safety & Quality).
- Member of IFST or other relevant associations.
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